Phil Vincent is probably the most talented musician on the planet; his voice is a cross between Don Dokken and Paul McCartney which is to say it is golden and definitely his best instrument. That said, the man does not let that define him, he is equally gifted with both guitar and keyboards. Again, that is not where it ends since he also has skills with a bass guitar and the drums though this is touted as a band effort. With that in mind, these are Phil Vincent's songs and what wonderful songs they are. The disc opens with a bang (actually several of them)and probably features the heaviest song on the disc in Welcome Home which is a hyper drive rocker. It is followed by a more melodic euro-rocker Killing Me Inside which features Phil's lavishly textured vocal harmonies, really good stuff! The next song begins with with a really cool acoustic groove that builds into another chunky but melodic hard rock riff and more superbly textured vocals from Phil and a blistering lead guitar solo. If you are not totally hooked by now, listen on further. Right Here is next on tap with another very cool acoustic based intro and very smooth and melodic hard rock vocals; personally I think Phil Vincent may be the best melodic hard rock vocalist in the business right now and this song does nothing to change that opinion. This is more a ballad than anything, and it is a fantastic song. It is followed up by another pedal to the metal rocker Led Wait that features lush vocal harmonies in the chorus. Another of Phil Vincent's big gifts is the ability to come up with hook after hook in all the right places, no cliches folks, just molten hard rock with melody to spare. Next comes my favorite song on the disc You Make me Weak which is a melodic bluesy power ballad, and it is just flawless in every aspect as it transitions from the the slower portion of the song into a wall of guitars and lush vocal harmonies. The guitar work is again fabulous and hooky in its own right, it all adds up to a superior ballad. The whole album fits so well together with equal parts rocker and ballad, and equal mid paced rockers mixed with up tempo and faster paced songs. The common thread is a superbly gifter songsmith with a golden set of pipes. My recommendation is simple, if you buy one hard rock CD this year, THIS has to be the ONE! I could continue to span through the song list with more superlatives, but why not check it out for yourself? I have all of Phil's previous solo CD's and also his disc with his other band Tragik; this is the tour de force so get it while you can because you will be SO glad you did. Rock on Phil and Cicular Logik!
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